Solar cell module and roof equipped with power generating function using the same

• US 6,967,278 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2002
• Issued: 11/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kaneka Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kaneka Corporation
• Inventors: Tomita, Hirohiko, Hatsukaiwa, Teruki
• Primary Examiner(s): Diamond, Alan
• Application Number:
  US10/256,729
• Publication Number:
  US 20030034064A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,152 Days
• Field of Search: 136/246, 136/251, 136/259, 136/244, 136/291, 521/733, 257/433
• US Class Current: 136/251
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 20/23 specially adapted for roof structures
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 10/10 Photovoltaic [PV]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 10/20 Solar thermal
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/50 Photovoltaic [PV] energy
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 136/291 Applications

Abstract

An object of the invention is to provide a solar cell module in which sufficient drainage and ventilation are ensured on the rear side, an output cable can be prevented from being caught during installation, and long term reliability is ensured by preventing bleed of the output cable, and another object of the invention is to provide a solar cell module integrated with building materials in which water leakage into the house and failure due to staying moisture can be avoided by imparting a waterproof function of a verge substrate water drip. A bottomed drain gutter opening to the abutting face of a heat insulating supporting material is provided to communicate with the side of the heat insulating supporting material, and a cable holding groove opening to the abutting face of a leg vertically provided on the heat insulating supporting material and deeper than the diameter of the laid cable is made to communicate with the side of the leg in order to hold the cable without projecting the cable from the opening. Furthermore, a plurality of geta members are arranged on the bottom of a supporting base and the thickness of each geta member is so set that the supporting base does not collapse the verge substrate water drip when the solar cell modules are laid on the verge substrate water drip.

Claims

1. A solar cell module comprising a solar cell constituting a roof member, an output cable extended from the backside of the solar cell, and an adiabatic support member contacting the surface of a roof body fixed to the backside of the solar cell, wherein a plurality of drain ditches opening at the contact face of the adiabatic support member to the roof body is provided so as to communicate with a lateral side of the adiabatic support member, and wherein said drain ditches are formed so as to cross each other vertically and horizontally, and wherein the output cable is inserted along at least one of the drain ditches, and wherein the depth of a drain ditch is set to a value at least larger than the outside diameter of the output cable.

2. The solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein a part or the whole of a drain ditch is formed into a bottom-flared shape.

3. The solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein a constricted portion having a width approximately equal to the outside diameter of an output cable is formed on a part of a drain ditch along its longitudinal direction.

4. The solar cell module according to claim 1, in which the adiabatic support member is constituted by a flat body portion face-fixed to the backside of a solar cell and a plurality of legs independent each other vertically set to a roof body from the flat body portion and the drain ditch is formed by the gap between the legs, wherein a cable-holding groove opening at the contact face to the roof body, having a depth larger than a cable diameter, and holding an inserted cable while housing the cable without protruding it from the opening is formed on at least one leg selected out of the legs so as to communicate with the lateral side of the at least one leg.

5. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein the adiabatic support member is constituted by an elastic body and a cable-holding groove elastically holds an inserted cable by a portion having a width smaller than a cable diameter.

6. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein the cable-holding groove is formed like a taper so that the width of the groove becomes gradually smaller from the opening toward the bottom.

7. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein the cable-holding groove is formed by a groove opening along a direction selected out of vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and moderately-curved directions or a combination of these grooves.

8. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein a wide housing space cut out by heat waves is formed in the cable-holding groove.

9. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein the cable-holding groove is formed into a zigzag groove bent in its top view.

10. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein a cable-holding groove is formed at least on the at least one leg located nearby an output-cable extending position of the adiabatic support member to the outside of the module.

11. The solar cell module according to claim 4, wherein the output cable is guided along the periphery of the at least one leg disposed nearby the proximal end of the output cable without forming a cable-holding groove on the at least one leg.

12. The solar cell module according to claim 1, wherein the adiabatic support member is made of an expanded synthetic resin.

13. The solar cell module according to claim 1, provided with a support table for supporting the solar cell module and fixing the solar cell module to the roof body and constituted into a building-material-integrated solar cell module, wherein a plurality of geta members are arranged at the bottom of the support table facing the roof body and the thickness of each geta member is set so that when setting the solar cell module to the upper side of a verge-substrate dewatering eaves as so to cover the dewatering eaves, the bottom of the support table floated by the geta members does not crush a bent portion of the verge-substrate dewatering eaves.

14. The solar cell module according to claim 13, wherein the thickness of each geta member is set to 4 to 5 mm.

15. The solar cell module according to claim 13, wherein each geta member is set to a position for covering the opening of a screw hole drilled on the bottom of the support table.

16. The solar cell module according to claim 15, wherein a thick-wall portion is formed on each geta member through a step and the opening of the screw hole is located to the thick-wall portion.

17. The solar cell module according to claim 13, wherein each geta member is made of EPDM or chloroprene.

18. The solar cell module according to claim 13, wherein each the geta member has a JISA hardness of 50 to 70.

19. The solar cell module according to claim 13, wherein each geta member is a contour-extrusion molded product.

20. The solar cell module according to claim 13, successively arranged on the roof body by fitting an end of the solar cell to another support table already fixed on the roof body, wherein a fitting-directional front end at the bottom of each geta member is formed into a smooth face.

21. The solar cell module according to claim 20, wherein a one-side adhesive tape whose surface is waxed is attached to the front end of each geta member and the remaining portion of the tape is attached to a support table.

22. The solar cell module according to claim 1, set on the roof body together with a roof tile, wherein the solar cell module is fixed to the light-receiving side of a substrate, which is made of a noncombustible material, wherein a tub structure is formed on the substrate at the same side as a tub portion of the roof tile, and the substrate is fixed on the roof body by using an area of the substrate in which no solar cell is fixed.

23. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein an eaves-side margin of the solar cell is secured by a plurality of clamps provided to the eaves-side end of the substrate.

24. The solar cell module according to claim 23, wherein a cover member extending over the width-directional whole area of the solar cell fixed by clamps is provided to a ridge-side margin of the solar cell along the ridge-side margin.

25. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein a plurality of clamps for fixing a connective portion constituting a leg portion of the eaves-side of the solar cell module are provided to the cover member and the module is connected onto the substrate through the cover member by engaging the connective portion with the clamps when stepwise setting another solar cell module adjacently to the ridge side.

26. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein an elastic sealing member having a proper thickness of 3 mm or more is attached to a portion located at the back of the solar cell or a margin and the inside of the back of said solar cell on the surface of the substrate facing the back of the solar cell to form a water stop structure at a gap between the solar cell and the substrate by the sealing member.

27. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein an opening for protruding a terminal box of the above solar cell to the backside of the module is formed on a portion of the substrate facing the terminal box and a tub member for covering the opening is removably set to the backside of the substrate.

28. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein a leg to be secured to a roof-tile stand tree on the roof body when fixing the solar cell module onto the roof body is provided to the substrate.

29. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein the adiabatic support member is constituted by a flat body portion face-fixed to the backside of the solar cell and a plurality of legs independent each other vertically set to the roof body from the body portion, a cable-holding groove is formed on one or more legs, and a cable-holding groove is also formed on a flat body portion on an extension line of the legs so as to communicate with the body portion.

30. The solar cell module according to claim 22, wherein an earth member for grounding to be electrically connected to a substrate of solar cell modules adjacently arranged at right and left and a screw for electrical connection are provided to the ridge-side end of the substrate.

31. The solar cell module according to any one of claims 1, 4, 13 or 22, wherein the solar cell is amorphous or hybrid.

32. A roof equipped with a power-generating function, wherein solar cell modules according to claim 4 holding an output-cable in a cable-holding groove are arranged along the outer face of a substrate sheet on the surface of the roof body.

33. A roof equipped with a power-generating function, wherein solar cell modules according to claim 13 disposing the geta members at the bottom of the support table are arranged on the roof body.

34. A roof equipped with a power-generating function, wherein solar cell modules according to claim 22 constituting the tub structure are arranged on the roof body together with roof tiles.

35. A roof equipped with a power-generating function constituted by arranging solar cell modules according to claim 1 along the surface of the roof body and introducing the power generated by these solar cell modules into the inside of a house from the apex of a roof through a cable, wherein a sleeve to be guided into the indoor side by passing through the cable is provided to the apex of the roof, and the sleeve is provided with a cable entrance opening at the surface side of the roof body on which the solar cell modules are arranged and a cable exit opening at the surface side or indoor side of another roof body adjacent by using the ridge portion of the roof as a boundary nearby a portion on which an insertion hole communicating with the indoor side adjacent to the former roof body is formed.

36. A solar cell module comprising a solar cell constituting a roof member, an output cable extended from the backside of the solar cell, and an adiabatic support member contacting the surface of a roof body fixed to the backside of the solar cell, wherein a plurality of drain ditches opening at the contact face of the adiabatic support member to the roof body is provided so as to communicate with a lateral side of the adiabatic support member, and wherein said drain ditches are formed so as to cross each other vertically and horizontally, wherein a part or the whole of a drain ditch is formed into a bottom-flared shape.

37. A solar cell module comprising a solar cell constituting a roof member, an output cable extended from the backside of the solar cell, and an adiabatic support member contacting the surface of a roof body fixed to the backside of the solar cell, wherein a plurality of drain ditches opening at the contact face of the adiabatic support member to the roof body is provided so as to communicate with a lateral side of the adiabatic support member, and wherein said drain ditches are formed so as to cross each other vertically and horizontally, wherein a constricted portion having a width approximately equal to the outside diameter of an output cable is formed on a part of a drain ditch along its longitudinal direction.